THE TROUT STREAM 25 



of the Solway hatchery, actually suggests a 

 regular insectarium, if I may use such a barbarous 

 compound, and is quite convinced that the rearing 

 of water flies for angling purposes is practical. Con- 

 sidering how easy the rearing of Icpidoptej'a is to 

 collectors, there certainly does not seem to be any 

 great obstacle to dealing with the epheincridcE and 

 other families in the same way. 



Pollution, water company operations, interference 

 by mills and shortness of fly — with, as a conse- 

 quence, unwillingness of trout to rise freely at the 

 artificial — form the four chief standing grievances 

 of the south country angler of to-day, though I 

 must admit that I have heard, and sometimes 

 indulged in various others, the supposed results 

 of atmospheric and human shortcomings. Among 

 these four grievances, the water company is per- 

 haps the newest, and in the not remote future it 

 may be the most serious of all. These angling 

 woes are rather dispiriting to dwell upon ; and 

 especially when they apply one and all to 

 the same water, as is sometimes the case, the 

 angler has reason indeed to complain. But 

 happily there are several features in connection 

 with trout fishing of to-day and trout fishing pro- 

 spects which may fill us with hope for the future 

 of our pastime. 



The increased number of anglers — which I cannot 

 profess, as an angling writer or an angler, to regard 

 with regret — and the ever-growing popularity of 

 fly fishing for trout, have led to the careful preserva- 

 tion and the improvement of many waters all over 

 the south of England. Trout fisheries, which 

 were formerly managed in the most happy-go- 

 lucky way, which were poached and overrun with 



